Lewis Hamilton Wins Saudi Arabian GP

Lewis Hamilton won his third back-to-back on Sunday at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after passing Max Verstappen with six laps remaining. The win at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix put Hamilton in a tie for the Formula One Championship Title and set the stage for what is to be a title-deciding finale.

The battle for the championship has been formidable and has seen the lead being traded several times between Hamilton and Verstappen. With the last race of the season heading to Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, both Verstappen and Hamilton will go into the race tied in points.

If Hamilton succeeds and wins, he will be crowned with his eighth Formula 1 title and overtake Michael Shumaker as the driver with the most titles, and if Verstappen wins, he will win his first. Hamilton’s win on Sunday at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was the Brits third straight victory and one many felt was marred in controversy.

The controversy stems from an incident between Hamilton and Verstappen that saw officials hitting the Dutch driver with a ten-second penalty. However, while the two are tied in points, Verstappen has a slight advantage as he has accumulated nine with this season versus Hamilton’s eight. The excitement of the upcoming race is not lost on Max Verstappen, who won last year in Abu Dhabi.

“”Of course it’s exciting, we’re starting again like we started the season.””

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The race was looking less likely to end in Hamilton’s favour before he passed the Red Bull with six laps remaining. The two have battled multiple times this season, resulting in crashes at the British Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix.

From Hamilton’s perspective, it seems more drivers have been willing to take racing to different levels when it comes to overtaking. However, Hamilton is far from an innocent this season as the increased pressure from Verstappen has brought out the street racer in the Brit.

“It was clear that others around were willing to take it to all sorts of levels to overtake. We’ve seen multiple incidents this year.”

The race on the 30-kilometre street circuit in Saudi Arabia will go down as one of the more memorable races of the season. Not only was it the inaugural running of the Saadia Arabia Grand Prix, but it saw three standing starts, multiple deployments of the safety car and a back-and-forth battle between the title contenders that resulted in a minor late collision.

The result saw Red Bull having to negotiate the penalty officials would access against Max Verstappen for his part in the on-track incident. After Verstappen broke aggressively, resulting in Hamilton driving into the back of the Red Bull, Mercedes head Toto Wolf could be seen slamming his headset in frustration.

After the penalty was announced, a dejected Verstappen appeared incredulous after leading the race and finishing second.

“What happened today is unbelievable. I’m just trying to race. This sport is more about penalties than racing. So for me this is not Formula One but at least the fans enjoyed it.”

Verstappen also expressed his concerns about race stewards and some of the decisions they have made this season, stating,

“Not just this race (but) in general, lately, (it’s) the trend in F1. That’s not how I grew up watching Formula One.”

After the race, Hamilton needed time to regroup after what he called the most physically draining win of his 103 career wins in F1. The heat and humidity clearly took its toll on the seven-time champion, who was seen wiping his face before the podium ceremony.

“That was incredibly tough, I tried to be as sensible and as tough as I could be.”

The reason for Verstappen being penalized was for going off course during the second restart. That resulted in officials telling Verstappen to yield to Hamilton, but instead, after slowing rapidly to allow Hamilton to pass, the brit did damage to his wing when he rear-ended the Red Bull.

Both Verstappen and Hamilton have differing opinions on what took place, but ultimately it was Verstappen who was summoned to appear before the stewards post-race.

“I didn’t understand why all of a sudden he hit the brakes quite heavily then I moved into the back of him. All of a sudden (Verstappen) slowed at a really rapid pace. I feel really grateful that I didn’t take us both out.”

During the incident, Hamilton was heard on the team radio curing in response to the move by Verstappen calling the driver “crazy” and his driving “dangerous.”

“I definitely felt there were scenarios where that was the case. It’s not the first time I’ve had to avoid collision.”

However, Verstappen insisted that the incident was not his fault, but was Hamilton’s.

“I slowed down, I wanted to let him by, he didn’t want to overtake and then we touched.”

When questioned post-race, Hamilton also responded about the rules for going too wide off track stating that all drivers understand the rules except for one, before adding,

“I find it interesting that I’m the one who gets a penalty when both of us run outside the white line. We’re talking more about white lines and penalties than Formula One racing and that’s a bit of a shame.”

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is scheduled for this coming Sunday, and for F1 punters, it will be a race not to miss. It will also be a prime opportunity to punt on the outcome as Canadian bookies gear up for a championship that is Hamilton and Verstappen’s to win.